Who We Are
The Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) is a forum for the leaders of America’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety of the more than 61 million people they serve. Together, these public health officials directly affect the health and wellbeing of one in five Americans. Our vision is to create healthy, more equitable communities through big city innovation and leadership. Through our work, we aim to advance equity and health for present and future generations.
Position Overview – What You’ll Do
The Director of Public Health Data will report to the Executive Director (ED). This position is grant-funded, full-time, and based in the D.C. metro area. Our team is currently fully remote but meets in person several times a year; those of us who live in the D.C. metro area meet more often.
The Director will lead BCHC’s data efforts, supporting and participating in the provision of direct technical assistance as it relates to data modernization; sharing subject matter expertise with the BCHC team, members, and relevant stakeholders; working with our data platform team; and developing and supporting data modernization strategy and implementation efforts at the national level. This position will also work to ensure members and partners have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to use new technologies, standards, and strategies meant to improve the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of data for decision making.
The ideal candidate will have experience working in or with local/state/federal governmental public health departments and be interested in and knowledgeable about “nontraditional” health data.
Responsibilities
Data Modernization Thought Leadership
- Represent BCHC members’ data modernization interests at national, state, and local meetings, conferences, and other events, including various standing bodies on which BCHC sits
- Work with BCHC membership to develop and coordinate data modernization strategy
- Oversee the development of issue briefs, reports, toolkits, and other knowledge products
- Direct strategy to assess, develop, and assure requests for assistance and information from members, affiliates, implementation partners, and national organizations are effective and timely
- Build upon partnerships with external public health organizations such as CDC), ASTHO, APHL, CSTE, and NACCHO
- Analyze federal IT regulations/policies for their relevance to organizational goals and member interests and prepare comments and/or other policy documents as needed
- Work across BCHC team and membership to gather and tell the story of members’ successes and challenges to relevant media, policymakers, and stakeholders
Capacity Building and Technical Assistance (TA)
- Lead, manage, and provide capacity building and TA to BCHC members to support their public health data modernization efforts
- Respond to and develop solutions for TA and training needs of members, including identifying when needs exceed staff capacity/expertise
- Convene members to support collaboration and information sharing, as well as develop tools to support them, such as a clearinghouse of valuable data resources, tools, and/or processes
- Identify promising practices and highlight early adopters to spread data infrastructure capacity across the BCHC membership by leveraging existing systems and know-how
Data Platform and Metrics Development
- Contribute expertise to the Big Cities Health Inventory Data Platform, including working to identify and define emerging metrics to help develop more holistic data measures and measure impact on some of public health’s most pressing challenges
- Work with BCHC members to better create data linkages with health care and other ‘non-traditional’ sources of data, in particular by standardizing definitions and data collection, as well as the inclusion of race and ethnicity information
- Other data project activities as needed
Who You Are
You are a pragmatic, results-oriented, hands-on team member. To be successful, you are also:
- Mission-driven: You want to make a difference and find meaning in even the most routine day-to-day tasks to help facilitate the work, and BCHC’s mission resonates with you.
- Creative: You are flexible and willing to adapt along with a dynamic organization that is growing and changing.
- Motivated: You are highly self-motivated and can work both independently and in a team environment.
What You Bring
- A minimum of 5 years relevant work experience and an MPH or master’s degree in data science, health informatics, or related field
- Comprehensive knowledge of the field of public health data, modernization, and informatics, as well as familiarity with interoperability standards at the local, state, and/or federal level
- Technical expertise related to public health and health care systems data, health information technology, and surveillance systems
- Local or state public health or national association experience
What We Offer Our Team
The salary for this position starts at $105,000 and is commensurate with experience.
We are a small, nimble, hardworking staff, with a collegial work environment. Our generous benefits package includes:
- 10+ paid holidays, including extended year-end winter break
- 3 weeks paid leave in first year of employment
- 12 days paid sick leave and 6 paid wellness days
- Employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Employer-matched 401k program
How to Apply
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter with “BCHC Dir PH data” in subject line to resume@hri-online.com.
